movement in the 1960s. But at the same time, the wade-ins, and brave calls to "come on in and swim" encouraged and strengthened the African American swimming movement. Today, it is no longer as uncommon to see African Americans at the elite levels of swimming and other water sports. Over the last two decades, several elite African American swimmers have not only broken American records, but have displayed their willingness to be mentors to a new generation of Black swimmers. Soon after Cullen Jones, an African American freestyler became the first African American to hold or share a world record in swimming at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he described his hopes that he would work to increase the number of African American children in swimming. As a result of these promising changes, it might be said that programs like Aquademics are no longer important. Or that it is not surprising a program like Aquademics has disbanded, because it is no longer necessary. But lost and ignored knowledge about the heritage of African Americans in swimming and its importance as a life skill have taken a toll and create a perilous cultural undercurrent that continues to have fatal consequences. Alarmingly, over half of African Americans do not know how to swim today. Their encounters with water are therefore more likely to be life-threatening. The tragic statistics reveal that they are: African American children, ages 10 to 14 drown at five times the rate of other ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Fortunately, today, other organizations are advancing the legacy of Aquademics and programs similar to it. And simultaneously, they are rediscovering and reclaiming lost knowledge and heritage as well as documenting the reality that Black children always were, have been and always will be in the water. See also 1. Black History Invitational 2. Black Splash Exhibit at the International Swimming Hall of Fame 3. Black Swimming History 4. Diversity in Aquatics 5. Make a Splash with Cullen Jones References Non-profit organizations based in Michigan Organizations established in 1990